Celebrating NATO’s local ties

Norfolk festival puts a spotlight on alliance’s Hampton Roads connection

The NATO alliance emerged from the ashes of a war responsible for unrivaled violence and a death toll that still defies comprehension. The North Atlantic Treaty, signed in April 1949, pledged members to “safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization of their peoples” and was “founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law.”

Today, in Europe, those principles — and the security of the sovereign nation of Ukraine — are again under military assault while the political bonds of an alliance that has served members’ common security interests are being questioned, even by some in Washington.

It is before that backdrop that Hampton Roads will again gather with people from around the world for the Norfolk NATO Festival.

It is an opportunity to celebrate the resilience and strength of that alliance and to remember its continued value to our interests, at home and abroad.

Only three years after the treaty’s signing, NATO established its Allied Command Atlantic in Norfolk — the alliance’s first physical footprint in North America.

It was reimagined in 2003 as Allied Command Transformation and, along with the launch of Joint Force Command Norfolk in 2018, still represents the only formal NATO operations on this continent.

That is a rare and special distinction for this area, which is home to some of the largest and most consequential American military installations in the world. It shows the importance placed on both this region and this partnership.

The annual NATO Festival — which began, remarkably, in 1953, only a year after NATO arrived here — is a chance to celebrate that relationship. Though the pandemic forced a pause on the festivities, as it did to so many of our annual events and traditions, it is exciting to be able to gather together once again.

And celebrate it we should. We should never forget how the strength of the transatlantic alliance helped deter Soviet aggression in Europe during the decades after World War II, and we should be ever thankful that on one of America’s darkest days, Sept. 11, NATO invoked its mutual defense clause for the first and only time, on behalf of the United States.

For Norfolk and Hampton Roads, however, the NATO alliance is more personal and intimate. There are hundreds of international military service members and their families who live and work here.

They are our friends and neighbors, the people we see at church and at the grocery store. They are Virginians as well as citizens of their respective countries.

So when members of Congress cast doubt on the value or purpose of the alliance, when some cannot even bear to vote for a non-binding resolution in support of NATO, as happened recently, it reflects a deeply cynical worldview. It is to their credit that our region’s delegation, Republican and Democratic alike, stood on the side of NATO and against those who would see the partnership fracture.

This weekend, there will be ample opportunity for area residents to learn more about NATO, its operations in Norfolk and the people who serve such a vital function in a violent and unpredictable world.

These include the opening flag-raising ceremony at the Scope on Thursday evening, the Parade of Nations through downtown Norfolk on Saturday morning and the International Village in Town Point Park on Saturday.

Full details are available at the Virginia Arts Festival website: vafest.org/ norfolk-nato-festival.

This weekend will also see the return of the Virginia International Tattoo at the Scope, featuring more than a thousand military band and drill team performers from around the world. This year, the 25th Tattoo, will have indoor and outdoor events and guarantees to be quite a spectacle.

The fun and festivities, most welcome after years without them, are a testament to resilience and a fitting tribute to an alliance that continues to serve this nation and this region so well.